Initiatives & Projects

The Federal and Armed Forces Libraries Round Table (FAFLRT) is the primary voice for federal and armed forces libraries in the American Library Association (ALA) and has embarked upon a number of initiatives to assist federal libraries and educate ALA on the needs of federal libraries. These initiatives include:

Writing Workshops for Military Veterans

The American Library Association's Federal and Armed Forces Libraries Round Table (ALA FAFLRT), together with the University of Maryland, will host a series of three writing workshops for military veterans on the first Saturdays of April, May, and June from 1:30 – 4:30 at the University of Maryland Hornbake Library in College Park, MD.

For those of you with teaching experience, please consider volunteering to teach one of the workshops (or even part of a workshop!) The seminars are an intensive writing program designed to give veterans, active and reserve service members, and military family members the skills and confidence they need to tell their own stories in fiction, non-fiction (including memoir) and poetry. We have prepared curricula for the three sessions and we are happy to share these materials with you if you are interested.

We are also looking for volunteers to help greet attendees, serve refreshments, and help veterans record their writings. Any amount of time that you can offer will be extremely valuable, and your participation is most welcome! We intend to produce an eBook compilation of participants’ writings, and we hope to share this project with a wider audience at ALA Annual later this year. Please contact Michelle Dunaway at militarywriters@gmail.com with questions or to let us know that you can volunteer.

FAFLRT Rising Stars Initiative

FAFLRT, Federal & Armed Forces Libraries Round Table, recognizes the activities and contributions of those new to federal or armed forces librarianship and government information management, who display a passion for the profession, both at work and via volunteer or association activities.

Careers in Federal Librarianship

Started as a workshop, this initiative has grown into a series of national events designed to encourage and educate potential applicants on the benefits of Federal librarianship. Some library schools are bringing these events to their campuses. If you would like a Federal librarian liaison to work with your school or library, describe your needs and availability in our quick survey. Please also check out our collaboration site hosted on Google Groups.

San Jose State University was the first library school to hold a mini-Careers in Federal Libraries event in November 2008. See the article from Joyce Lee as a great recap of that content, " Do you want a Future with the Feds?" Florida State University followed with a mini-Careers in Federal Libraries event a week later. What a great program from Pamala Doffek (FSU, Goldstein Library) and Tyler Evans (Air University Fairchild Research Information Center, Chief Information Systems Branch). Thanks to Alma Quinn and Michelle Demeter for their efforts in creating a great program!

Conference Workshops

Each year, FAFLRT holds workshops at the ALA Annual Conference to educate and encourage Federal librarianship. A listing of previous workshops with links to the presentations is available online.

Membership Now Free for Students

In looking to the future of Federal librarianship, FAFLRT decided to change its dues structure to attract new librarians (free round table membership for students, for the first two years). In doing so, FAFLRT hopes to not only attract highly qualified librarians to bring fresh ideas and energy to the round table, but we hope that we can influence and mentor new librarians to pursue careers within the Federal sector.

National Federal Librarian-Library School Network

Are you a Federal librarian that would like to speak at a library school on Federal librarianship? Are you teaching a class at a library school? Are you associated with a library school that could use a federal librarian as a resource for classes and job fairs? Describe your needs and availability in our quick survey. Please also check out our collaboration site hosted on Google Groups.